7200 OS Upgrade to 3.2.2

[craigh]

Hi, we logged a call with HP to upgrade our 7200s from 3.2.1 to the latest OS version, assuming this would be 3.2.2. We were after the newly introduced adaptive optimization feature:

"Adaptive Optimization Adaptive Optimization in 3PAR OS 3.2.2 provides the user more control over the space distribution within AOCFG CPGs. You can define a minimum and maximum space utilization of each tier in an AOCFG. You can also define minimum space utilization of the T0 CPG (SSD tier) such that the SSDs remain mostly full, making full use of the SSD performance."

However, when the time arrived, HP stated 3.2.1 was the latest and said whilst 3.2.2 existed it was not recommended for the 7200. I asked why and whether there problems with it. They responded it was reliable but I received no proper answer as to why 3.2.2 is not recommended on 7200 3par.

Has anyone got 3.2.2 on 7200? How does it go? And does anyone have any ideas why 3.2.2 (which has been out for nearly a year) is being stated as not recommended.

Thanks

[Christian]

Have yet to upgrade a 7200 to 3.2.2 but we have multiple 7400 running 3.2.2 EMU2 without any issues. Will be upgrading a 7200 to that version late this month hopefully, I have not got any indicators that its not recommended so far.

[finnzi]

Hi,

We have two 7200c and issued an upgrade request to HPE couple of months back due to a issue we had with Peer Persistence. When they finally got to it they only installed patches for 3.2.1 eMU3 (really like 8-9 patches - we were actually running MU3 before). However the original support engineer working on the Peer Persistence case had told me that 3.2.2 MU2 was the latest for the 7200c (this is like 3 months ago or so).

Later (on the 28th of June - a week after we got those patches installed) I got a mass mail from HPE stating the 3.2.1 MU5 was highly recommended to be installed on our arrays. As much as I like the 3PAR arrays, HPE really needs to get those departments talking....the difference in answers depending on which support person you talk to seems to be huge!

Bgrds,
Finnzi

[MammaGutt]

Recommendations constantly change and that's just a way of life. If you were to follow every single recommendation from every provider on every equipment you wouldn't do anything other than patching and your backlog would only increase. The key thing is to spend 5 minutes reading the release notes and evaluate which recommendations are actually relevant. If there is a critical bug fixed for Vmware vVol and my platform is MS/Hyper-V, the patch/MU could be as critical as it wants to be, but totally irrelevant for me. I don't expect HPE to validate for me because they don't know my environment and my future plans with it.

From my understanding, the current recommendations is 3.2.1 MU5 for 7k and 10k systems (this recommendation was updated just a couple of weeks ago) and 3.2.2 eMU2 for 8k and 20k (rumors has it that 3.2.2 MU3 was released this week, so expect this recommendation to change in a few weeks).

I would not be surprised if 3.2.2 MU3 would be the recommended version for 7k and 10k within a few months either.

[rotorhead1]

We also inquired about 3.2.2 and initially was approved then the day of the upgrade we were told it wasn't GA for 10k/7k arrays by HP engineering. We inquired several times and got different answers almost every time we pursued the upgrade. There are a few features in 3.2.2 that we are interested in utilizing. We are having a ton of issues with responsiveness from the overseas groups. They are very inattentive to their own processes and disconnected from the customer with many issues get lost in the cracks such as a 3 week turnaround time on an open case priority case. At this point we are debating a switch off of HP/3PAR for this and other reasons. This has been going on for about 4 years since the scheduling and upgrade groups were moved overseas. We requested US support but were told that there would be a extra cost to receive the support.

[MammaGutt]

3.2.2 is GA for 7k/10k and was GA for 7k/10k on day1 of release. If you need a feature in the 3.2.2 code on a 7k or 10k, simply stating that should be enough to get the upgrade scheduled and approved.

As an example, Remote copy is only supported between the same versions with an accepted transition state of 5 weeks. (Check page 18 for full list here http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/pub ... -c02660486 ).

If 3.2.2 wasn't supported on 7k, then you couldn't replicate between a 7k and a 8k system in a supported configuration which is just silly. Release notes for 3.2.2 also clearly states that 7k and 10k are supported.

[MammaGutt]

We also inquired about 3.2.2 and initially was approved then the day of the upgrade we were told it wasn't GA for 10k/7k arrays by HP engineering. We inquired several times and got different answers almost every time we pursued the upgrade. There are a few features in 3.2.2 that we are interested in utilizing. We are having a ton of issues with responsiveness from the overseas groups. They are very inattentive to their own processes and disconnected from the customer with many issues get lost in the cracks such as a 3 week turnaround time on an open case priority case. At this point we are debating a switch off of HP/3PAR for this and other reasons. This has been going on for about 4 years since the scheduling and upgrade groups were moved overseas. We requested US support but were told that there would be a extra cost to receive the support.

If you have a 7k or 8k system, you could do the upgrade yourself. And to my knowledge you could just book a local consultant to go onsite and do the OS upgrade. My experience from other vendors (mid-range) is that they will either deliver it remotely, as a DIY or as a paid service. For high-end systems some offer onsite people for upgrades as a part of the support, but as with everything you usually end up with the bill in the long run.

[Josh26]

If you have a 7k or 8k system, you could do the upgrade yourself.

This is wildly contradictory to a long series of consultations I have had with HPE over multiple 7k installations.

[turbogizzmo]

If you have a 7k or 8k system, you could do the upgrade yourself.

This is wildly contradictory to a long series of consultations I have had with HPE over multiple 7k installations.

Well to be fair after 3.1.2 I thought they introduced the ability to allow customer side upgrades.

That being said even after having plenty of experience with 3par I still have a case opened for a upgrade even if I am doing it myself.

[MammaGutt]

If you have a 7k or 8k system, you could do the upgrade yourself.

This is wildly contradictory to a long series of consultations I have had with HPE over multiple 7k installations.

Well to be fair after 3.1.2 I thought they introduced the ability to allow customer side upgrades.

That being said even after having plenty of experience with 3par I still have a case opened for a upgrade even if I am doing it myself.

I totally agree. I'm just saying there is an option.